1. Field of the Disclosure
The present disclosure relates to processes for fabricating and repairing electronic devices.
2. Description of the Related Art
Electronic devices, including organic electronic devices, continue to be more extensively used in everyday life. Examples of organic electronic devices include Organic Light-Emitting Diodes (“OLEDs”). Conventional OLED displays are typically formed from a single substrate. Whether passive matrix or active matrix, electronic circuits used to drive the OLEDs are formed before the OLEDs, themselves. Electronic circuits that are otherwise good may become effectively worthless during the fabrication of the OLEDs. For example, a fabrication defect or error when forming the OLEDs can result in operable driver circuits that are electrically connected to non-functional or poorly functioning OLEDs. In another example, fabrication of the OLEDs may render the driver circuits to be non-functional or poorly functioning due to processing conditions. Such non-functional or poorly functioning driver circuits may result from temperature cycling, plasma damage, or the like. Still further, the additional processing for the OLEDs increases the likelihood that a substrate will be dropped, fractured, misplaced, or combined with the wrong lot of substrates.
In an attempt to solve the problem, one substrate includes electronic circuits, and another substrate includes the OLEDs. To assemble the OLED panel and the driving panel together, many approaches have been proposed. An anisotropic conductor, for example, anisotropic electric conductive paste (e.g., a paste with a low density of conductors) or anisotropic electric conductive layer (e.g., an elastomeric layer with z-axis conductors) can be used. A patterned metal bump is another approach to make electrical connection between two panels. In all of these attempts, the electrical connection is achieved through physical pressure in which OLED pixels are liable to be damaged. Therefore, these processes can actually reduce the yield and increase the fabrication cost. To reduce the effects of such disadvantages, a passivation layer can be introduced to protect the OLED pixels or the OLED pixels can be made on the other side of the OLED substrate. In these two approaches, an additional process of making micro vias through the passivation layer or substrate is required. Making micro vias for millions of pixels is a difficult process.